Ragnarok
by Newclear
Summary: Lo, and the trumpet did sound, heralding the beginning of the end...
1. Chapter 1

A Moonlit Night and A Good Smoke

Valdescir stood upon the Third Hokage's forehead, having himself a smoke. The moon was out tonight, briefly illuminating his exhalations before they dispersed. All the talk of war in the morning had left him tense, and sometimes, a smoke was all you needed.

He felt air rush out from behind him, and the rustle of feathers that accompanied them. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"What is it Remiel?"

Remiel looked at his mentor, the man who gave him a chance to redeem himself and others, and saw the tension in his tall frame. He hadn't seen him this riled since the War of the Lions a few missions back.

But he hadn't come here to muse upon past missions.

"The Council is requesting your presence, Valdescir. It appears you've turned into an asset for them."

Valdescir managed a small smile.

"No doubt thanks to Kakashi's recommendation. Tell 'em I'll be right with them, as soon as I finish this stick."

Remiel was silent for a moment, Valdescir assumed he gave a nod, and the wind rushed out from behind him once more. A softer breeze blew behind him, and it made him smile.

"You're getting better at the flying thing now, Hinata. I barely sensed you."

He could feel her cheeks redden from the compliment, even with his back turned. After all the time Remiel's been with her, she was still a bit of a wallflower. He couldn't blame him or her, some things just didn't change. And some things did.

Hinata shed the bulky, thick hoodie she always wore, and has since been wearing the white sleeveless hoodie & pants that hugged her voluptuous form. He could remember when flowing robes had been standard dress code for angels…

Oh, how times change.

"Remiel's been teaching me rather well, Valdescir-kun, thank you for the compliment." She said in that soft, meek voice of hers.

"Kid, if I know you, and I'm not saying that I do, but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't come up here for a reason."

The cigarette's flavor changed subtly, the mark that the good stuff had burned through, and he was halfway down his stick.

"So spill." Said Valdescir, wondering if he should rescind his word to Remiel, and light one more stick.

A moment of silence passed between them, and then Hinata spoke.

"I want to thank you."

Valdescir was taken aback by this, and released a breath he did not know he was holding.

"Ohh, kid, you scared me for a sec back there, I thought you were gonna ask about forbidden knowledge, or how to unlo-…Yeah, I should stop there. Well, in any case, you should be thanking Remiel, he gave you your second chance."

Valdescir could clearly remember speaking those words a long time ago, to a young man who had lost all hope once. The cigarette changed flavor not-so-subtly, and he could swear he could taste the filter. He was three-fourths through the cigarette. He didn't have time for musings and reminiscing.

"No, Valdescir-kun, I remember not so long ago, that you told Remiel that you had sent him here as a vacation, and if not for you, I wouldn't have met him. So again, I thank you." Valdescir finally turned, and saw her rising from a rather deep bow.

"No need for such formalities, kiddo, we are both equals…and 'sir' makes me feel old. Go on, enjoy the night while it is young, I have a meeting to attend to."

Hinata spread her wings, grey they were, and not white, for she was not wholly angel. She thrust them down, and soared upward into the night sky.

Valdescir stood there, watching the spot that Hinata flew up into, gave one last puff, and flicked the cigarette off into the village, though it probably wouldn't make it that far.

"Wars always get me riled up...there's never time to smoke in one." He bemoaned to himself.

He gave a sigh as he took off into the night, his wings glowing softly as he flew, like an earthbound star.

Rudra had walked out of Konoha.

She could not risk being seen in the air, now that there was a total of three angels in the village, travelling by air out of Konoha was dangerous, especially if they knew where she headed.


	2. Chapter 2

Face The Future

Remiel sat at the foot of his bed, deeply troubled. The war room meetings were ongoing, and tomorrow, they marched, into battle…into war…

Into the future.

Hinata woke from her sleep beside him, and softly yawned.

"What's wrong Remiel-kun?" she asked sleepily.

Remiel looked into her eyes, pale lavender with the slightest hint of blue, and found concern within.

"It's just that, for the first time, in a long time, I don't know what's gonna happen. Who lives, who dies…I don't know….I just don't know." He said, holding his head in his hands.

"Look, you can't save everyone. Be content in knowing that you're helping to save Konoha."

She planted a kiss on his cheek, and gave him a kiss on the lips.

"Now get some rest, you can't fight for Konoha, if you fall asleep on the battlefield."

With that, Hinata lay back down to bed, but Remiel stayed up. It was a few weeks after Pein's Invasion, and the rebuilding of Konoha was almost complete, and in the momentary lulls in-between fixing the village, Remiel and Hinata trained.

They trained to master flight. They trained to control the halves of the beasts sealed within them. They trained to master their weapons.

Remiel had been given the Tempest Blade, a gift from the Archangels after his first use of the Seraph Form had proved his skill, and had trained with it extensively, till it was almost an extension of his body. Meanwhile Hinata mastered the Glaives that had appeared at her bedside that day she had awoken. Since Remiel was not an expert nor did he have an inkling of skill in glaive fighting, Hinata was trained by Valdescir with what knowledge he had of glaive fighting.

Which was a lot.

She had held herself in a fight against Remiel a few days ago, using their respective weapons.

He had been so proud that day, the timid wallflower he had met and fell in love with a long time ago had become a battle-worthy warrior. He only wished that her skills would not be put to the test so soon.

Sleep did not come easy that night, with much tossing and turning in between.

The figure entered the apartment quietly.

She was silent, giving pride to her status as ninja. She moved through the shadows, unseen, unheard, till she reached the bedroom.

She opened the door slowly, barely making a sound.

A flicker of movement, and she found herself pinned by her left hand to the wall facing the bedroom door. A second later, the white-haired ninja reappeared next to her, his hand wrapped around his sword.

"Who are you?" asked the white-haired ninja.

She kept her silence.

"Answer me."

"Your death!"

A senbon shot out of her right sleeve, and she moved to stab it deep into his neck. The white-haired ninja caught her wrist in a vice-like grip, and saw the senbon shine with an oily gleam in the moonlight streaming in from the bedroom.

"Poisoned. Impressive. Not taking any chances are you? Now tell me…who are you, and who sent you? Answer me, or I will snap off your wrist!" he growled, his grip tightening till she could bear no more.

"Aghh, Karin!" said the assassin.

"Karin? The prisoner? How did you escape?" said the white-haired ninja, noting that Karin's eyes had the disturbing habit of wandering over his bare chest.

"Womanly wiles, of course. Agghh, goddamnit stop squeezing!"

He lessened his grip, but did not let go.

"What did you hope to achieve with my death? Sasuke's betrayed you, can't you see that? He fuckin' near-killed you! All just get to Danzo! Doesn't that give you the hint that he's out of his GODDAMNED MIND?"

Hinata stirred slightly in the bedroom at Remiel's outburst in the end, distracting him momentarily. Karin used this to her advantage, and tried to pull away.

Remiel almost lost his grip, but regained it immediately. He tightened his grip, tight enough to leave bruises. Karin stopped struggling.

"He loves me… I know he loves me. He did that so he could finish his mission…I know he loves me" said Karin softly, her eyes brimming with tears. She slumped onto the floor, defeated, and began to weep. Remiel loosened his grip, and realized that she was not the enemy.

She was human, just like Hinata, just like him…fragile, easily hurt, and lonely.

He pulled out his sword, and pinned her right sleeve onto the wall as well. He could do nothing for her, she was caught up in her fantasy, and only a large dose of reality could snap her out of it.

The ninjas who were supposed to be guarding her arrived about five minutes later, Karin had cried herself to sleep, and Remiel was meditating in the living room.

"What took you guys so long?" he asked, not rising from his meditation.

"Uhh, if you don't mind, we'll be taking her now."

"Go ahead, she's pretty sneaky though. You better watch out for her right sleeve, it's got a senbon dispenser up there."

The two ninjas pulled out Remiel's sword, lifted Karin up, and carried her out, leaving Remiel to his thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

Bring Back the Old Guard

Valdescir walked out of the meeting room, with the sun shining in his face. The Kages had spent all night planning where, when and how they were gonna fight this war. He had spoken a few choice words during the meeting, and now, he found himself promising something he might not be able to give.

In any case, he had a lot of work to do, a few worlds to go to, to get what he had promised the Kages.

But in the end, if he delivered, he would give them something that always won wars, from his opinion anyway.

He would have given them hope.

Hope that they could win this war.

Hope that they could survive this Blitzkrieg.

Hope that they would stand, the last bastion of justice against a wave of madness.

Hope for something…more than survival.

Hope for victory.

He pulled out a pocket watch from within his jacket. It was 5:15 AM, and the sun had almost risen. If he could pull this off, he would have them by 9:00…tops.

He didn't have time to lose.

As the Kages walked out of the meeting hall, Valdescir phased out of their reality, and into another, so suddenly and completely that, none of them could say he had been there at all.


	4. Chapter 4

Call to Arms

Remiel stood amongst the multitude of ninjas that had gathered for war. Their forehead protectors carried not the mark of their villages, but bore the mark that defined and united them all.

They weren't Leaf-nin, Sand-nin, or Wave-nin…

They were all Shinobi.

Remiel looked around him, and felt the arm wrapped around his. Hinata stood next to him, looking nervous. It would be her first war, but would not be her last. Around him, the others looked as uncertain and as nervous as Hinata, and surprisingly, he felt a little nervous and uncertain as well. He didn't have his usual prescience; he had no assurance, no idea of how this would end, or if it would end at all. He had been to realms that had been wholly consumed by war, worlds filled with naught but death and sorrow. He did not want this world to suffer the fate of those realms.

He looked up to the commanders as they stood high above him. In the middle stood the Fifth Kazekage, and at his sides were the commanders of the other 4 divisions, with every shinobi in a division classified according to their specialty.

Division One had Darui as Commander, and was made up of Shinobi with midrange fighting capabilities. Division Two had an odd looking fellow, by Remiel's and Hinata's standards, anyway, known as Kitsuchi for a Commander, and his division consisted of Shinobi with close range combat capabilities, while Division Three was a combination of the two, and featured Shinobi capable of both midrange and close combat fighters, and had Kakashi for a Commander.

It was here that Remiel and Hinata had been placed. Valdescir had informed the Kages of their inherent abilities, and had them

Remiel held a certain amount of respect for the man, what with his bravery in battle during Pein's Invasion. The man had stared death in the eye, and lived…figuratively speaking.

Division Four was lead by none other than the Fifth Kazekage himself. Remiel had wondered what had brought about Gaara's rather radical change from blood-thirsty psychopath, to the beloved leader of the Sand Village. He'd heard about the story, when Gaara first showed up in the Chuunin Exams, and how he damn well nearly destroyed Konoha, and almost managed to kill Sasuke...

"Which would've done the world one heck of a favor." said Remiel to no one in particular, earning him a quizzical look from Hinata.

"What was that, Remiel-kun?"

Remiel gave a sigh.

"Oh, just thinking out loud."

A relieved smile appeared on Hinata's face. He held her hand, and returned the smile. She was nervous, he could tell, he could feel it in everyone, he could feel it himself. It would be not be his first war, but for everyone else, this was something they had hoped would not happen in their lifetime.

And with his usual prescience and precognition on the fritz, leaving him unable to accurately see what could happen. It almost felt as though the whole thing was being made on the fly. All he could see in the future was AMBUSH. He did not feel threatened nor ill at ease, then it meant that it either did not apply to him, or it was not a threat to his, or Hinata's existence…then again, as angels, there wasn't a lot of things that could endanger their existence, though it meant that whatever pain that would end a normal human being would continue for all eternity for them.

And in world filled with infinite torture techniques and insta-burials, it made being immortal a downright ridiculous affair.

Remiel brushed the thought away, and focused on the task at hand. Around him, an army of shinobi stood at the ready, willing to fight for true peace. A sense of calm spread over Remiel, his mind set at ease. They **would** win this fight, and if it looked like they couldn't, well…

They could damn well try.

A soft explosion was heard somewhere in the middle of the ranks, bringing down the silence that hung in the air over them like a shroud. They looked, or at least tried to look, and saw two shinobi fly back a few feet away from each other. Looks of fear and thoughts of treachery and ambush crossed their minds.

Then, Gaara began his speech.


End file.
